


A Little Spell

by AntagonizedPenguin



Category: Original Work
Genre: Creepy, Human, dryad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:32:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8667814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntagonizedPenguin/pseuds/AntagonizedPenguin
Summary: It's hard having a human for a best friend. But Tear is willing to do the work to keep Johan as his.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little story I wrote ages ago. I figured now was as good a time as any to get around to posting it.

“He’s not coming.”

“He’s just late, it’s not that big a deal. He’ll be here.”

“I don’t get why you’re so confident. Humans are unreliable. They move around too much so you never really know where they are.” 

“ _I’m_ a human.” 

“Yeah, but you’re different.” Tear fell backwards, hung from a low branch in the tree by his knees. He poked Johan on the forehead. “You’re better. You’re better than him.” 

Johan went red. “You’ve never met him.”

“I don’t need to meet him, Jo-han.” Tear explained patiently. “I’ve met a lot of humans. I’ve met more humans than you. You’re the only one I’ve ever met who’s worth the time of day.” He whistled a little tune, a little spell to make sure Johan didn’t get cold. 

“There are others. Kyle is one. You’ll see when he gets here.”

Tear just sighed, his breath like a light breeze on Johan’s face. He didn’t understand humans, even this one. Why did he obsess over some other human when Tear was right here? “What about him makes you like him so much?”

Johan got that stupid smile on his face, the one that he got when he was thinking of this Kyle and never when he was talking to Tear. “He’s funny. And he’s really nice.”

“I’m funny and nice and you don’t giggle about me.”

“It’s…not the same thing…” Johan said, looking away coyly. 

“Why not?” Tear pressed. “Is it because he’s human?” 

“No…he makes me smile. And he’s…cute.” Johan fidgeted in the grass. “He’s got this thing that he does with his ears, and…” He broke off into a fit of giggles. 

“Did you tell him about me?” Tear asked. “When you asked him to meet you here?”

“No. I didn’t want him to think I was crazy. But I know you’ll like him when you meet him, Tear, I know you will. Please be nice to him? Please?”

Tear sighed again. “Of course I will, Jo-han. If you like him that much then I like him too.” 

“Thank you!” Johan grinned, tried to awkwardly hug Tear despite him being upside-down. He pulled Tear out of the tree by mistake and they ended up in a pile on the ground. “Oh, God, oh God. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Tear smiled, enjoying the closeness with Johan, if only for a second. But he got off, because he was heavy and Johan was a human and therefore very fragile. “My foot’s touching the root, see?” He said it in a song, a little spell to make sure Johan wasn’t hurt. 

“Still.” Johan got up, brushing dirt off of the nice shirt he’d worn for his meeting with Kyle here in the woods. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“A few seconds away from the tree won’t hurt me, Jo-Han.” He brushed Johan’s cheek with his hand and smiled, Johan smiled back in a way that made Tear sad and shifted to sit beside him at the base of the tree. 

“I know, but…” Johan shook his head. “You’re my best friend, that’s all.” 

“You’re my best friend, too.” Tear took Johan’s hand in his own, enjoying this. This was more like normal, before Johan had gotten that stupid boy in his head. “My favourite human.” 

“My favourite tree.” Johan muttered, looking off into the distance. “Maybe he got lost. The forest isn’t that big, but maybe…what if something happened to him?”

“There’s nothing dangerous in this forest.” Tear said. “You humans managed to domesticate it pretty good. The bears are gone, so are the wolves. There isn’t even a deep river for him to fall into anymore since that dam got built. There’s nothing in here that could hurt a human.”

“And the dryads would protect him, right?” Johan asked. “If something did happen, your other friends would make sure he was okay?”

Tear smiled, tightened his grip on Johan’s hand just a little. “Of course they would. He’s your friend and you’re my friend and I’m their friend.”

Johan nodded, looking more worried now. Tear noticed and started humming, a little spell to calm him down. After a while Johan was smiling again, eyes drooping a little bit. “Maybe he’s lost.” He said again. “Can you look for him? Ask the other trees if they’ve seen him?”

“Sure.” Tear closed his eyes, looked out from the other trees in the forest. “Nothing.” He reported.

“Maybe he’s…really not coming.” Johan said, sounding surprised. “He said he’d come, though. He said he wanted to…” Tears welled up in his eyes. “Did he lie to me?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you think, Tear?” 

“I think humans are liars, Jo-han.” Tear said sadly. “Except for you.” 

Johan nodded, bravely trying not to cry. “Maybe something just happened. His parents made him stay home. Or he thought I said tomorrow, or he just…maybe he just doesn’t like me.” 

“No, shhh.” Tear put his arm around Johan, pulling him in to a side hug. “Nobody could possibly not like you.” 

“Lot of people don’t like me.” Johan sobbed. “Nobody likes me. Everyone thinks I’m weird.” 

“I like you.” Tear sang, a little spell to make sure Johan knew it was true. “I don’t think you’re weird. I think you’re amazing.”

“You’re only…” Johan hiccoughed. “You’re only saying that because I can see you and I bring you snacks.” 

“I’m saying that because you’re the only human I’ve ever met who I think about when he’s not there. Who I miss seeing. Who I never hide from.”

Johan nodded, managed to get his tears under control. “I’m going to go. I’m going to find him and find out what happened.”

“No, you should stay.” Tear stood with Johan, still holding his hand. “You should wait a little while longer. Maybe he will come. Maybe he’s just late. Humans move around too much, Jo-han, so you always miss each other. You should wait with me a while longer.” 

Johan looked torn for a minute, looking off into the trees and back to Tear. “Okay.” He said. “I’ll wait for a while longer. Maybe he’ll come.” 

“Maybe.” They sat back down at the base of Tear’s tree. “Do you want me to sing you a song?”

Johan started to shake his head but changed it to a nod, wiping at his eyes. “That would be nice, Tear. Could you?”

“Of course.” Tear closed his eyes and looked through the trees again for a second, watched a lost boy wander after a song he’d heard, out of the forest where he would have a hard time remembering why he’d been here at all, except that it had had something to do with Johan, and that something weird had happened while he was in the forest, and that it would be a bad idea to have anything to do with that weirdness, especially the kid who’d brought it on. “I like singing for you.” 

“I like your songs. They’re pretty, even if I don’t know the words.”

“I’ll teach you the words someday.” Tear paused for a second, holding Johan’s hand tightly, and started to sing. 

A little spell to help convince Johan that he didn’t really need to leave the forest at all.


End file.
